Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Google's US Patent 9,108,640: Systems and methods for monitoring and reporting road quality

The inventor of --Systems and methods for monitoring and reporting road quality -- is Dean Jackson of Pittsburgh, PA.

The first claim states

A method for monitoring and reporting road quality by a server device comprising an electronic circuit, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining, by the electronic circuit, a report comprising the geographic road location of a vehicle and a road quality indication of the geographic location; updating, by the electronic circuit, a table correlating the geographic road location and the road quality indication; determining, by the electronic circuit, average road quality indicia based on the road quality indications from a plurality of vehicles; generating, by the electronic circuit, a calibration factor for the vehicle based on the difference between the obtained road quality indication and the determined average road quality indicia; and, generating, by the electronic circuit, a calibration factor for the geographic location based on the difference between the obtained road quality indication and the determined average road quality indicia.

A method for monitoring operation of vehicles, comprising: obtaining a database including data about roadways that a vehicle can travel on, the data including locations of edges of the roadways; installing the database onboard the vehicle; identifying a roadway on which the vehicle is approaching; displaying a map of the roadway that a vehicle is approaching showing a shape of the roadway, edges of the roadway, and travel lanes on the roadway; determining a defined corridor of travel for the vehicle on the roadway that the vehicle is approaching; determining a location of the vehicle with location determining equipment located onboard the vehicle; displaying an indication of the location of the vehicle in association with the map of the roadway that the vehicle is approaching; obtaining traffic control information concerning the vehicle's impending use of the roadway that the vehicle is approaching; determining a travel condition of the vehicle in consideration of the defined corridor of travel for the vehicle; determining that the traveling condition of the vehicle is unsafe for the roadway that the vehicle is approaching in consideration of the obtained traffic control information; and activating an alarm to notify an operator of the vehicle that the vehicle's traveling condition is unsafe for the roadway that the vehicle is approaching.

and US 7,840,342 also to Intelligent Technologies International, Inc. (Denville, NJ) with first claim

A method for monitoring the condition of travel lanes on which vehicles travel, comprising: obtaining a database including data about roadways that a vehicle can travel on, the data including locations of edges of the roadways; installing the database onboard the vehicle; identifying a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling or approaching; displaying a map of a roadway that a vehicle is approaching showing a shape of the roadway, edges of the roadway, and travel lanes on the roadway; determining a corridor of travel assigned to the vehicle on the roadway that the vehicle is approaching; determining a location of the vehicle with location determining equipment located onboard the vehicle; displaying an indication of the location of the vehicle in association with the map of the roadway that the vehicle is approaching; obtaining traffic control information concerning the vehicle's impending use of the roadway that the vehicle is approaching; identifying a hazardous condition associated with the corridor of travel assigned to the vehicle; and activating an alarm to notify an operator of the vehicle of the hazardous condition.

with the specification noting:

The information may be derived from images obtained by one or more imagers arranged on the vehicle, with the images themselves optionally being transmitted to the control station. The information about the maintenance state of the travel lane may include the presence of potholes in the travel lane, the presence of objects on the travel lane, and icing of the travel lane.

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About Me

I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted
in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com.